One week from this coming Saturday will be our first winter program concerning the pollinators relationship within the natural world and ultimately us. The program is presented by Judy Semroc and as always will begin in the Owl Barn at 11 a.m. with refreshments served. Then on February14th, I will present a detailed program on hydrangeas in which the genus is changing every year with the addition of more and more interesting varieties to embellish our gardens. No doubt the Hydrangea genus can be quite complicated but I’m hoping the seminar will reduce this genus to a manageable size so that all the gardeners have to do is fill out a checklist as it has to do with color, size, re-blooming and sun or shade needs of the plant’s attributes.
In the greenhouse,18,000 plus cuttings have just finished rooting followed by another shipment containing New Guinea impatiens. Next week too will be the shipment of young hydrangeas from Michigan to be used for forcing which is a term denotes the heating of the plants to push them ahead of their bloom schedule in order that they might be ready for sale for such holidays as Easter or Mother’s Day.
The recent snows have piled at least 3 feet of the white stuff along the sides of the overwintering houses giving the plants an extra insulated blanket which works to seal in ground heat keeping the plant’s root system warmer although still frozen. Soon it will be time to spray the weed infested hostas in storage with Roundup once temperatures in the daytime rise above freezing for at least a week to push the weeds into life that will ensure the material in translocated to the weed’s root systems but not the root systems of the still asleep hostas.
Repair and maintenance continues on the various pieces of equipment and structures so that downtime from breakdowns might be minimized in the busy spring.
So much to do and so little time!
Tom
Tom
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